Caterpillar Tractor Co. v. Johnson
| Decision Date | 15 March 1935 |
| Docket Number | 7344. |
| Citation | 43 P.2d 670,99 Mont. 269 |
| Parties | CATERPILLAR TRACTOR CO. v. JOHNSON, Superintendent of Banks. |
| Court | Montana Supreme Court |
Appeal from District Court, Stillwater County; Robert C. Stong Judge.
Action by the Caterpillar Tractor Company, a corporation, against Frank H. Johnson, Superintendent of Banks of the State of Montana and ex officio liquidating officer of the Columbus State Bank, Columbus, Montana. From a judgment for plaintiff defendant appeals.
Reversed and remanded, with direction.
John G Brown, William A. Brown, L. V. Ketter, and John C. Erickson, all of Helena, and Brown & Jones, of Billings, for appellant.
Paul T. Keller and Albert J. Galen, both of Helena, amici curiae.
On April 2, 1929, Stillwater county, Mont., issued two warrants payable to the Connelly Machinery Company, of Billings, for $1,700 and $889.50, respectively. The company indorsed the warrants and delivered them to the Caterpillar Tractor Company, of Peoria, Ill., an Illinois corporation, plaintiff and respondent here. On October 24, 1930, the Caterpillar Tractor Company sent the warrants to the Columbus State Bank, of Columbus, Stillwater county, for collection. The letter of transmittal contained, in part, the following: "Please present to the Treasurer of Stillwater County, Columbus, Montana, for payment, and upon receipt of returns remit proceeds to us at this address in U.S. current funds, advising by telegram collect if payment is refused, giving reasons." The Columbus State Bank acknowledged receipt of the warrants on December 1, 1930, and advised the Caterpillar Tractor Company that the warrants had been entered for collection. The treasurer of Stillwater county paid the bank $2,590 on account of the warrants on December 4, 1930, but the bank never remitted the amount so collected to the plaintiff. The bank issued cashier's checks for the amount, as later shown by its records, but what became of the checks does not appear. They never reached the plaintiff.
On or about December 22, 1930, the Columbus bank closed its doors, was found to be insolvent, and was taken in charge by the banking department of the state of Montana for liquidation. On May 4, 1931, plaintiff prepared its verified claim against the bank for $2,590, and filed such claim, through its attorneys, Brown & Jones, of Billings, with the banking department on or about May 8, 1932, as a preferred claim. Thereafter the following letter was sent by the banking department to Brown & Jones: Brown & Jones acknowledged receipt of this letter on June 25, 1932. This action followed.
After complaint, answer, and reply were filed, counsel for the respective parties entered into an agreed statement of facts, in substance as follows:
1. That the Caterpillar Tractor Company is a corporation organized under the laws of the state of Illinois and has done business in the state of Montana for many years, but has never complied with the laws of Montana relative to foreign corporations doing business in this state; all of its business having been done through dealers in this state.
2. That the Columbus State Bank of Columbus, Mont., is a banking corporation organized under the laws of this state; that it is insolvent, and that on or about December 22, 1932, it closed its doors and declared itself insolvent.
3. That Frank H. Johnson is superintendent of banks of the state of Montana, and liquidating agent for the Columbus State Bank, and that the assets of that bank were taken over by the superintendent on the 22d day of December, 1930, and at all the times since have been under the control of the superintendent.
4. That on November 24, 1930, the Columbus State Bank was a going banking institution; that it received from the Caterpillar Tractor Company, plaintiff, for collection and remittance, two warrants issued by Stillwater county, Mont., and the two warrants heretofore referred to were described in detail in the letters accompanying them; that the Caterpillar Tractor Company was the owner and holder of the warrants on the date they were sent to the Columbus State Bank for collection and remittance, and was the owner of the claim against the bank on the date this action was instituted.
It is further stipulated that the warrants bore the indorsement of the Connelly Machinery Company, copies of the warrants being set out, and it is shown in the agreed statement of facts that both of the warrants were paid December 4, 1930, to the bank by the treasurer of Stillwater county, and were indorsed by the bank.
6. That the Caterpillar Tractor Company sent a separate letter with each warrant to the bank when the warrants were sent for collection, such letters being in form as follows:
8. That the county treasurer of Stillwater county had notified plaintiff prior to the transmission of the warrants to the Columbus bank that the warrants would be paid on December 15, 1930, and that the bank collected the warrants on December 4, 1930.
9. That Brown & Jones, duly authorized attorneys for plaintiff, filed with the superintendent of banks a duly verified claim of the plaintiff, it being verified by one of its own officers, in the sum of $2,590, the same being presented as a preferred claim. This claim was filed with the superintendent of banks on May 8, 1931.
10. That on the 19th day of May, 1932, the superintendent of banks disallowed the claim as a preferred claim, and thereafter wrote the letter to Brown & Jones, attorneys at Billings, heretofore set out. Brown & Jones acknowledged receipt of the letter of rejection on the 25th day of June, 1932.
12. That the records of the Columbus bank show that cashier's checks were issued in payment of the warrants in question, but that the plaintiff never received them, nor has plaintiff received any other payment from the bank or from Stillwater county on account of the warrants.
13. That the smallest amount of cash on hand in the Columbus bank after December 4 and up to December 23, 1930, was $634.38.
15. That the government of the United States presented a preferred claim against the Columbus Bank in the amount of $1,102.57, which was duly allowed and paid.
On the agreed statement of facts the lower court made and entered its conclusions of law, as follows: The court directed that judgment be entered in accordance with such conclusions, and such judgment was, on March 22, 1934, duly entered. The appeal is from the judgment.
Appellant's first assignment of error is that the court erred in concluding, as a matter of law, that the sum of $2,590, collected on the warrants, is a trust fund.
When the warrants were sent by the plaintiff to the bank with instructions to collect and remit the amount to plaintiff and the warrants were received and entered for...
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Schlenz v. John Deere Co., CV-80-53-GF.
...rule that notice to the agent in matters within the scope of his business is notice to his principal." Caterpiller Tractor Co. v. Johnson, 99 Mont. 269, 276, 43 P.2d 670 (1935). See also, § 28-10-604, M.C.A.; Stewart v. Casey, Mont., 595 P.2d 1176, 1179 ...